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I'm unhappy with Adobe for adding an easy-to-miss checkbox to automatically install McAffee when I updated my Flash version. I don't think a big company like that has any excuse sneaking %&*^ware onto my machine.

So, simply put, is there an alternative I can use without unwanted 'extras' for the unwary?

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  • Yeah, that happened to me too. Took me about two minutes to uninstall McAfee, though, and I'd rather stay "official."
    – Robert Harvey
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 21:40
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    You could always just download and install the debug player. These don't have the "extras."
    – Krazer
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 22:12
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    How full sport for all Flash options and ActionScript do you need? Are you just trying to hit up youtube or do you need some game library or flex site to run pixel perfect? There really isn't enough here to give a good informed recommendation on yet. See How to ask for an alternative to some software for tips.
    – Caleb
    Commented Feb 22, 2014 at 20:50
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    I have been using "Foxit" for some years now and I would recommend it. It works from the desktop, from Firefox and installs a pdf printer.
    – Rohit Gupta
    Commented Nov 20, 2015 at 1:36

3 Answers 3

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Just use the MSI installer. It doesn't include McAfee.

I'm actually assuming that none of the installers on that page include McAfee.

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Chrome includes Adobe's flash plugin, and there aren't any gotchas about installing it. The caveat is that it's not a full system-wide installation - This isn't a solution if you want to double-click on .swf files, but is a simple solution if you just want to quickly browse flash-enabled websites.

As an added bonus, the version of flash that is shipped with Chrome is tweaked to work inside of Chrome's PPAPI plugin model, which allows Chrome to actually know and display which tabs have flash actively producing sound. There's also no nagging Adobe updater (Chrome automatically updates the built-in flash module when it updates itself).

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  • +1 The only version of Flash on my new machine is the one that comes as part of Chrome. I don't miss it in other browsers (I get less ads!) However, I do still find that even in Chrome the Flash plugin crashes now and again.
    – MrWhite
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 22:44
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If you use Firefox you can also opt-in for Shumway. It is available in Nightly build (and by extension), with some quirks proper of something that isn't quite cooked, but would work as full replacement of Flash given enough time.

There are other full alternatives like GNU Gnash but lack of support of recent versions of ActionScript, so the usage is limited to older flash videos.

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